If it feels like you’re entering another holiday season feeling sick and sluggish, it’s not all in your head. Doctors say the stress of the holiday season can increase your chances of getting sick.
This includes everything from viral illnesses to allergic reactions. Rita Kachru, MDan allergist and immunologist at UCLA Health, tells SELF. If you’re feeling a little stressed about work deadlines before the holidays, Dr. Kachru says that alone isn’t likely to cause you to get sick. But if you’re constantly dealing with attacks come the holiday season, you and your immune system may be paying the price. here’s why.
The stress-immunity connection is real.
When you are stressed or in a pressure cooker situation, your body releases hormones like cortisol and adrenaline to help you recover from the moment. Kara Wada, MDAn allergist and immunologist in Ohio, tells SELF. “It’s useful in short bursts,” she says. In fact, short bursts of stress can Increase Increase your immune system and your protection against infections, Thomas Russo, MD, Professor and Chief of Infectious Diseases at the University at Buffalo in New York, tells SELF.
But that’s what happens when you have a little stress here and there—chronic stress is a different story. “When we’re stuck in survival mode, persistently elevated cortisol levels can disrupt the way immune cells communicate with each other, making your first line of defense slower and less coordinated,” says Dr. Wada. “It can also weaken protective barriers in places like your nose, throat, lungs, skin and gut – the areas where your immune system works hardest.”
Chronic stress can also increase the risk of more serious allergic reactions. “Allergens are harmless by definition, but our immune system sees them as if they’re harmful and triggers a reaction,” says Dr. Kachru. “Chronic stress reduces your immune system’s ability to see whether something is harmless or not.”
Dr. Wada says chronic stress can also increase inflammation in the body while working against pathways that help keep allergic reactions in check. “This combination makes your immune system more prone to making mistakes,” she says.
According to Dr. Wada, because stress is likely to disrupt sleep and sleep is important for your immune health, you could get stuck in a vicious cycle. “Excessive stress leads to poor sleep and, as a result, the immune system becomes less resilient,” she says.
What does this look like?
There are a few things that can happen as a result of all those stress-induced immune changes. “People often find that they get sick more easily during periods of prolonged stress — colds that last for weeks, frequent sinus infections, or a general feeling that your body can’t rest,” says Dr. Wada.
